CAASPP Update, Issue 171

Focusing on the CAASPP System, including the Smarter Balanced assessments—a major component of CAASPP—and the California Alternate Assessments and science assessments.

2016–17 Interim Assessments Can Begin!

The 2016–17 interim assessments are now available! Please remember that only local educational agency (LEA) CAASPP coordinators who have been designated by their LEA superintendent and have returned the necessary security agreement for the current school year will be registered in the Test Operations Management System (TOMS) and the Administration and Registration Tools (ART) interface, which is used to view interim assessment results.

Once LEA CAASPP coordinators are fully authorized, they will be responsible for adding users from their LEA and providing the necessary access to TOMS and ART.

New Feature—Search Tool on CAASPP Web Site!

Have you found that locating materials on the CAASPP website
can be challenging? We have good news for you: Beginning this week, the Web site will have a new search tool to navigate the site and quickly access its resources. Here are a few tips on making the most of this new feature:

Make sure your spelling is correct.

If you are looking for an exact word or phrase, use quotation marks; for example, “needle in a haystack.”

Use a comma to separate capitalized names or phrases; for example, Common Core, Smarter Balanced.

Practice and Training Tests for 2016–17 Are Here!

Exciting news for classroom teachers, parents, and students: Smarter Balanced has updated its online Practice Tests and Training Tests, adding new items and passages. Please be sure to share the new tests with all teachers, instructional coaches, and professional development staff to the benefit of everyone—educators and students alike.

There’s Still Time! Hand Scoring Workshops

The Interim Assessment Hand Scoring Workshops are under way, and seating is still available at several locations! Below is a listing of the locations at which seating is still available.

Location

Date

Santa Clara

September 19

Concord

September 20

Shasta

September 26

Burbank

September 28

Riverside

September 29

Irvine

September 30

Ventura

October 5

San Diego

October 7

LEAs may send up to three team members to attend. The LEA CAASPP coordinator is responsible for registering the team members for the workshop. If you are an LEA staff member interested in participating, contact your LEA CAASPP coordinator to find out whether space is still available on your LEA’s team!

More CAASPP in Action—LEAs Share Their Experiences

Last month, the CDE launched the CAASPP in Action series, in which LEAs share in a report their successes, challenges, and lessons learned implementing the CAASPP System. Each LEA’s report discusses the training used as well as goals, lessons learned, and next steps for continuous improvement.

Using Interim Assessments FOR Learning—Sierra Sands Unified School District

Please share this email with any educators in your local educational agency who would be interested in or benefit from this information. To join the email list, send a blank message to subscribe-caaspp@mlist.cde.ca.gov. Are you a new subscriber? Visit the CDE CAASPP Update web page to find previous issues.

High School Equivalency Test Fee Waivers (added 14-Aug-2019)
Waiving of Testing Fees for Homeless Youths and Foster Youths Taking the Fee-based High School Proficiency and High School Equivalency Tests.